Why the cloud?10 reasons to make the switch today

Cloud computing is accessing your storage and software via the internet instead of on-premises. Many organizations are moving their technological infrastructure to the cloud to launch new business models, streamline operations, and find new ways to manage and analyze data.

Moving your business to the cloud has numerous benefits. Here are the top ten reasons moving ERP, CRM, and other business software to the cloud makes sense.

Expected benefits
after moving to the cloud

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Avg. improvement in time to market

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Avg. reduction in IT maintenance costs

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Sources: Vanson Bourne. The Business Impact of the Cloud.

1. Cost-effectiveness

Think of all the expenditures you avoid by tapping into dedicated partners for your computing needs:

It’s no wonder large enterprises end up spending millions before reaping any benefit. The image below highlights some of the major costs on-premises implementations deal with that can be avoided by taking advantage of cloud offerings, such as NetSuite.

2. Universal access

Use your phone. Or laptop. From your office in Seattle. Or a gondola in Venice.

Cloud computing changes the game so you and your team have access to the tools and information you need from anywhere with an internet connection. This enables perks like flexible work arrangements without damaging team productivity.

Mobility and remote work options are becoming increasingly important, especially with younger workers. One study found that 68% of millennial job seekers said an option to work remotely would greatly increase their interest in specific employers.

3. Disaster recovery

Historically, small businesses lacked the resources and knowledge to create redundant backups in the case of a technical failure or catastrophic event. The cloud has changed this; in fact, small businesses are now twice as likely as mid-size companies and large enterprises to have implemented cloud-based backup and recovery solutions.

With the cloud, it’s easier than ever to maintain business continuity.

4. Automatic software upgrades

On-premises software typically has long development cycles, often a year or longer. In addition, rolling out these upgrades may require significant time to test and roll out.

Cloud software, on the other hand, favors incremental updates so you receive new features, improved functionality, and the latest security patches as soon as they are developed. And instead of frustrating downtime during upgrades, the suppliers install upgrades for you on their servers so it’s no-hassle for your company.

5. Scalability

Building your infrastructure in the cloud—the way companies like Netflix and eBay have—allows you to quickly increase (and decrease) capacity. This is fantastic for seasonal or fluctuating businesses so they can change their bandwidth requirements as needed.

The traditional approach with on-premises infrastructure requires purchasing capacity to meet demand during peak times. The problem is that this leads to unused capacity sitting idle during ebbs in business.

6. Predictable cash flow

On-premises infrastructure typically requires large cash outlays. While accountants can amortize these capital expenditures over time, it still requires huge investments that could be better spent elsewhere.

Cloud computing smooths out an organization’s cash flow with predictable subscription models. This way you can plan ahead further than before and avoid surprises.

Every department managed in one system.Learn why moving your business to the cloud makes sense.

7. Reliabilty

The standard for continuous uptime continues to move higher and higher, with many cloud service providers offering 99.99% uptime. This type of reliability is very difficult to achieve on your own without committing extraordinary resources to IT maintenance.

For mission critical environments where 5 minutes of downtime can mean thousands lost in sales or a mountain of bad press, it’s often best to delegate the responsibility to experts who are continuously focused on uptime and speedy servers.

8. Lean & green

Cloud computing means you avoid excess capacity, so you use only the energy and space you need. This reduces your organization’s carbon footprint as a significant environmentally-friendly action. One study revealed that cloud solutions can reduce energy use and carbon emissions by more than 30% when compared to their corresponding business applications installed on-premise.

9. Security

It’s no question that cloud computing opens up new risks as you are fundamentally trusting your information with partners. But with advancements like improved encryption technology, it seems the pros outweigh the cons.

For example, consider an employee’s lost laptop. The sensitive data inside could prove disastrous, but the cloud provides new security options like remotely wiping the data. And because the data is stored on servers elsewhere, you can rapidly deprovision access as needed.

10. Focus

Unless you are in the IT business, spending significant time and money on your IT department is sideways energy. It’s not really moving you forward to achieve your vision and goals.

By eliminating the need to procure equipment, maintain servers, or upgrade software, you simplify IT management so you can focus on what matters most: your business.

We all need every strategic edge we can get. Cloud computing allows you to look past IT, focus on core objectives, and bring offerings to market faster than ever before.